


Under Her Spell

by krissiew



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:13:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24007924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/krissiew/pseuds/krissiew
Summary: Wanda Maximoff may have joined the Avengers but she can't escape the death of her brother and the mess she caused in Sorkovia.  She seeks the help of the team medic Riley.Of course they fall in love with each other.  It's great for a while, then comes the accords and finally Thanos.  Can they ever find a way to be together?
Relationships: Wanda Maximoff & Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	1. Nightmares and PTSD

The first time Wanda came to see me it was after Sorkovia, not long after she’d officially joined the Avengers. She was having nightmares, couldn’t sleep for fear of them, which was ironic given her abilities. She was still grieving the loss of her brother, still haunted by the pain of that loss and the feeling that she was responsible for it. What she was feeling was understandable and my heart broke listening to her talk about it, but I wasn’t sure I could help her.

I was a field medic. Or I was supposed to be. These days I was less out in the field more stuck in the compound medical bay. I wasn’t trained to do any kind of counselling. That wasn’t what she wanted. She was tired, she couldn’t focus on training and it was starting to be a problem. She’d caused ‘some’ damage in the break room when she lost a game of pool against Steve. By ‘some’ damage she meant she’d half destroyed it. No-one had told us how that had happened, I think I was better off not knowing. Steve had sent her here to get help.

I could help her get a decent night’s sleep. That was an easy fix, there were pills for that kind of thing, but it wouldn’t really solve her problem. She had to talk about what happened and she needed to grieve her brother. We talked for a while and I think it was the first time she’d talked to anyone about it. She left an hour later feeling a little better and with some sleeping pills. She wanted to talk to me again, that meant I had homework. I had to figure out how to help someone with post-traumatic stress disorder. AKA PTSD. 

I saw her once a week in the medical bay after that. Now that she was sleeping, she was coping with things a little better. She was still having nightmares though and the odd flashback but now that she was talking about things they weren’t as frequent. The sessions were hard for her, for me too, but since they were helping, I knew it was worth it.

When I saw her around the compound now, we talked – not about anything that mattered -we just talked. Since Steve loved playing pool as much as the rest of us, he got the pool table fixed pretty quickly and I often found myself watching her play or occasionally playing, and losing, against her. She seemed to spend a lot of her time outside of training with Vision or Vis as she called him. They were close and I think he had a crush on her. I wasn’t sure how she saw him and it wasn’t my place to ask. I hated how the thought of them together made me feel. I was trying to push past it but every time I saw her my heart leapt to my throat.

About two months after she first started seeing me, things took a turn for the worst. We’d had a party that night celebrating Sam’s birthday and everyone had retreated to bed happy and a little – or in Sam’s case – a lot tipsy. A few hours later I woke up to the sound of someone chapping my room door. That never happened. I guess there a medical emergency somewhere. I half stumbled to my door and opened it. Wanda was standing at the other side of it, her eyes red and blotchy. She was crying, openly sobbing like her heart was breaking and I wanted cry for her.

I invited her in and we sat on my bed and talked. She’d had a nightmare about her brother, about the day that he’d died, she couldn’t shake it and she was scared to fall asleep again. Clint had told her how he’d died. She knew he’d died saving the life of a child – and Clint – that he’d died a hero, but it didn’t make it any easier. They’d been close all their lives and been to hell and back at least twice together. She was happy at the base, happy making new friends and making a difference where she could in the world, but she missed her brother. She couldn’t get past the feeling that she was responsible for his death. Not just his but for all those people who’d died in Sorkovia. 

We talked about her nightmare and her brother for a while. It was too late in the day to deal with the bigger issues and she started yawning as she talked, she was too tired to talk about them. I persuaded her to try and sleep again but she didn’t want to be alone. I told her she could sleep here. It was absolutely the wrong thing to do, it was crossing a boundary but she smiled at the suggestion and I couldn’t make myself care.

She fell asleep beside me and she looked so peaceful as she slept. Beautiful too. I watched her sleep for a few a minutes before turning the light off. That’s when I knew for certain that I was falling for her. I couldn’t, I shouldn’t feel this way. She was my patient; it was against every ethical code, but I couldn’t help it. I was drawn to her and as much as I tried to fight it I couldn’t. As I watched her sleep I knew that I loved her. I just didn’t know what the hell to do about it.


	2. I just want you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unrequited love is a bitch. Riley decides to try and move past Wanda. Wanda has other ideas.

When I woke up the next morning she was gone. The only sign that she’d been here last night, that I hadn’t dreamt the whole thing was the slight dent she’d left in her pillow and the dishevelled bedsheets. It pained me a little not be waking up beside her but it was probably for the best. It shouldn’t have happened in the first place.

When I looked at my phone I realised that I hadn’t set an alarm. I had ten minutes to get to the medical bay for my shift. Crap. I decided against showering and just flung on my scrubs and headed down. I made it but just. It was one of the advantages of living on site. An hour later I couldn’t figure out why I’d rushed down. Aside from paperwork all I’d dealt with was a bee sting someone in the gardening department had the bad luck of getting when they were cutting the grass just outside the compound. The rest of the shift was just as uneventful. It made me miss the days when Tony Stark regularly caused havoc – and injuries – on a regular basis.

When my shift ended, I headed back to my room. I stopped for dinner en-route but took it to go. I had an appointment scheduled with Wanda tomorrow and … as much as I wanted to see her, as much as I loved spending any time with her I wasn’t sure that was the best way to it. Now that I’d admitted, at least to myself, how I felt about her I knew I couldn’t keep working with her. I had to tell her that tomorrow. How? How could I tell her I was passing her care on to someone else without telling her how I felt about her?

I was driving myself crazy thinking in circles about it when Sam messaged me. Was I coming down to the games room tonight? He wanted a partner for the pool tournament. That meant he wanted someone who could actually play so that he did get beaten by everyone again. I should go, I should do other something than mope in my room and feel … what was I feeling? It felt a little like being heartbroken but that wasn’t quite right. Could I really feel heartbroken when we’d never even been together? This was an unrequited love and that … whatever it was it hurt, and I had to stop thinking about it.  
I sent Sam a reply saying I’d be there and was almost out the door when I realised I was still in my scrubs. I changed into skinny blue jeans and a strappy black vest top with a cute animal design on it and headed downstairs. As I reached the door to the games room I heard her voice. I stopped walking. Why had I not considered that she’d be here? Of course she was here. Now what. I’d promised Sam but … I looked in to see her. To see if it helped me decided what to do. 

She was dressed similarly to me which made me smile. She was sitting drink in hand, relaxed and happy on one of the bigger sofas. She was also sitting a little too close to him. Vision. I couldn’t make myself walk in. Instead I stood in the doorframe and watched her with him. They weren’t doing much, they were just sitting talking but when she laughed she leaned into him and he was always touching her in some way. They were flirting. It wasn’t subtle. Why hadn’t I noticed that before? I’d really had been living in a dream world. This stung. It more than stung, it hurt like hell, like she’d stabbed me in the heart. It wasn’t her fault. She was incredible and I was just … me. A mere mortal. It wasn’t her fault that she didn’t feel the same way. This sucked. It made my decision for me. I couldn’t go in there. 

Someone banged into me, it snapped me back to reality. I didn’t want that, to be in the real world now. It was time to slink back to my room and send an apologetic text to Sam.

“Sorry Riley.” Steve. “Why were you lingering in the doorframe?”

I looked at him. I didn’t want to the answer the question. I looked over at her, she had her head on his shoulder. Heart-broken about covered it. I couldn’t go in. I didn’t want to look at them all night. Steve was still looking at me. Oh, he’d asked me a question.

“I was trying to decide whether or not to go in. I don’t think I will.”

“Are you okay?” I shook my head. “Can I help?”

“Not really, but thanks.”

I started walking away. I’d only taken a few steps when I heard her voice.

“Riley why are you leaving? Come and join us.”

I thought about it, just for a second but when I turned around to look at her she had her hand on his leg and nope. It wasn’t going to happen. I kept walking away. I thought I was going to cry. I couldn’t, not until I was alone. This was so stupid. I had to try and find a way to move past how I was feeling about her. That would be hard to do when she still came to see me at least once a week. I knew for certain now that I had to stop that, I would ask our other medic to take over her care. If I didn’t see her for a while maybe I could move past how I was feeling.

I was half-way down the corridor when I heard footsteps. Her footsteps. I had no idea what to do. I didn’t want to tell her why I wasn’t staying but if I actually wanted move past her then I couldn’t be around her and maybe the easiest way to say why I was pushing her out my life was to be honest. I stopped walking, waited on her catching up with me.

“Aren’t you coming in? Sam was looking forward to playing with you.” I shook my head. “Why not?”

I could do this. I had to do this. Like ripping of a band aid.

“I’m tired. Listen while I have you alone. I’m going to ask Ryan to take over your care.”

Her face fell. Crap. She seemed upset. I’d done that to her. I had to.

“Have I done something wrong?”

“No. Wanda. No. Ryan is much better with PTSD that’s all. You’ll be fine with him.”

“I don’t want to talk to him.”

She was almost sulking now. She looked adorable and all I wanted to do was pull her into my arms. I couldn’t, it wasn’t my arms she wanted around her. I changed my tone, tried to be cold.

“You’ll be fine. You can always talk to Vis.”

“I don’t … what’s changed? We were fine last night.”

“Look I’m tired, I’ll see you around.”

“Riley.” She grabbed my wrist, stopped from walking away from her. “Talk to me.” I had to tell her. I knew I would, much as I’d tried to avoid it. “Please.”

“I just need some space from you for a while. It’s not your fault. You like him and he clearly feels the same way and that’s great but I…”

“What ‘him’?”

“You and Vision.”

“Are friends and that’s it.”

Oh. Really? It didn’t look that way. That still didn’t mean she wanted me, I still needed to walk away from her.

“Okay. Anyway, I’ll speak to you later.”

I turned to walk away from her. She wouldn’t let me, she let go of my wrist and stepped in front of me. Dammit Wanda, let me walk away while I still have some dignity left. Please.

“Why does it bother you so much?” 

I couldn’t make myself answer her. She stood staring at me for a few seconds. I didn’t need to answer her, she knew what was going on. I had no idea what she’d do – or say – about it. She moved a hand to the side of my face. I stopped moving, stopped breathing actually. She couldn’t feel the same way. Could she? We stood staring at each other. My heart was racing, I never imagined that she’d actually touch me like this.

“Wanda?”

“I want to talk to you, not as my … I just want … Riley I just want you.”

My heart leapt. She wasn’t joking, she wasn’t teasing. She’d meant that. She tentatively moved her other hand and rested it on my waist. The way she was staring at me, I knew she was about to kiss me and, oh boy, did I want that. She hadn’t moved again though so maybe I should? I moved my arms, gently wrapped them around her waist and stepped into her. It was my way of saying that I wanted this to. She started tracing her hand down the side of my face with one finger and when she reached it tilted my chin upwards.

“I have wanted to do this for a long time.” Yeah, me too. “Are you sure?”

I nodded. I was sure, I’d never wanted anything more. She smiled. She slowly leaned into me. It was like she was giving me time to move, as if I would or could. I moved in to meet her and we gently grazed our lips against each other. As we did that again she moved her hand to the back of my neck. My brain short circuited in that moment. This was really happening, she was really kissing me. How was this real? It was and I wasn’t going to question it. As her lips grazed mine a third time a voice close by brought me back to the real world.

“It’s about damn time.”

Sam. Was he talking about my arrival for our game or was he talking about Wanda and me? It didn’t matter. What did matter was that, for now, he had just killed the moment. Wanda and I moved away from each other. She was grinning but so was I. That kiss might have short and chaste but it had been kind of amazing. Better than any time I’d imagined it and I’d imagined it a lot. Sam was still looking at me. He was smirking. He didn’t say anything though instead he slapped me on the back, a little too roughly, and headed back inside. I had no idea what that meant either and I didn’t care. I looked back to the woman I now didn’t want to be apart from. Ever.

“You know you absolutely have to start seeing Ryan now?” She laughed. She was beautiful when she laughed. She was beautiful full stop. She could have anyone she wanted and for some reason she wanted me. “Do you want to go back to the party?” 

She shook her head. I smiled. That was the answer I wanted. 

“Now that I know I can, I want to be alone with you. That okay?” I nodded. “Why don’t we go to my room?”

She took my hand and we started walking. We’d walked a few yards when Sam called out to me, asked if I was coming in. Was he kidding? He had to know that wasn’t going to happen. I managed to a yell out a ‘no’. I’d finally got the girl and now that I had I didn’t want to be anywhere but alone with her too.


End file.
